


Painting is calming in the best of ways

by LunaticLuna



Category: Persona 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Lovely Store old lady, M/M, OC, Poor Walls, References to Depression, Self-Indulgent, Self-Indulgent Piece, Tatsuya is Sad, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy to healthy coping mechanisms, Unrequited Crush, but it also has a happy ending, everyone is a bad friend, i guess, this is dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 18:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14575101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaticLuna/pseuds/LunaticLuna
Summary: Tatsuya has a crisis, and on the verge of a mental breakdown when a nice old lady who runs a DIY store helps him out and shows him how to properly cope.An Au where nothing persona-like, nor demonic, nor shadow-like has happened. Everyone is normal.





	Painting is calming in the best of ways

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly indulgeant, and I didn't have any other fandoms to write in other than the persona series. 3/4/5 ain't sad enough (Minato goes through enough shiz already) and P1... is.. well Naoya is.... Okay, I don't know him. But I have an Idea for Tatsuya. 
> 
> And while yes, It's thought that Jun has a crush on Tatsuya, I decided to flip it, and twists some things here and there.
> 
> Warning: This is Dark (not P3 dark, but it's close). If you feel uncomfortable with people self-doubting themselves, harming the things (Not people) around them, and verges of mental breakdowns, please don't read this. It has a happy-ish end, but if your not used to reading somewhat-dark shit, please turn back. 
> 
> Don't worry, it has a sort-of happy ending, or at least, a contented ending.

Tatsuya wasn't in the best of minds. He had basically confessed to the Guy he liked, the only other person who he could stand for more than 10 minutes was Maya but that was a stretch sometimes, and got rejected. But... He was sure that Jun was interested! Then again, reading people wasn't his strong suit. So he walked by himself most days. Yeah, his general Friend group talked to him, and tried to get him to smile but... he didn't feel like trying. His heart hurt enough.

So he faked it. He gave the small slight smiles more often, they seemed to appease everyone. Jun tried to stay friends with him, tried to act as if nothing happened. But it hurt. It hurt when Jun would smile at him in greetings, when he would look at him from the corner of his eye when talking to others... it hurt. And the Pain was making him want to lash out. But... He couldn't. No matter how much he wanted to hit something, someone, he just wouldn't move. So he bottled it up, and overtime, it got worse.

Jun thought that it was all fine, that the confession was in the past. Forgotten. But it wasn't, at least, not by Tatsuya.

at night, he thought about it. It was all his brain would go to. Even when he didn't want to think, his brain would go to the moment when Jun rejected him. And after Months, it came out. He took a small knife that he kept on himself for self defense, and threw it at the wall. And if felt like so much had left him that he collapsed onto the ground. His brother must of heard him, since he knocked on the door barely a minute later.

and that became his routine.

If he started to think anything that wasn't Family, school, or anything current, he'd attack the wall. At first, it was just one simple stab, or throw. then it was multiple. Then it was slashes. Within 2, maybe 3 months, it looked like a wild animal had a go at his walls. it was obvious his brother was worried, but he never brought it up.

He was feeling better though, he didn't hurt as much as before on the inside, since he didn't bottle anything up. However, when he was walking home from the convenience store after school, that was when he saw it. Jun kissing someone. Tatsuya couldn't tell who it was, whether it was a guy, girl or what. But He recognized Jun. So he Ran.

He didn't know where he ran, but he ran somewhere. When he was too tired out to go any further, he sat down against the nearest wall and silently cried. Until an old lady came up to him.

"Excuse me, young man, are you okay?" She asked. He looked up, to see a worried face, before a hand holding out a handkerchief. "Here you go lad. Wipe your face clean and follow me." She smiled, before walking away, slightly slowly. He didn't know why, he could have just left, but he followed her. She took him into a DIY store, and brought him to the back of the store. "I run this store, and all of the volunteers have already gone home. Sit, Sit, I'll make you some tea."

A Cup of Tea later, and a small bit of prodding, He ended up spilling everything to the woman, what he was feeling, his unrequited crush, his feelings, all of it. The woman hummed, a look of sad, but understanding on her face. She smiled at him, putting comforting hand on his knee.

"Perhaps, my dear, you could use a better outlet for your emotions." She smiled when he scrunched up his face in confusion. "Painting of course! You can paint the walls, I have a multitude of inks you can use to paint the walls. You can do any sort or designs you want, and then re-paint over them." She explained. "They can be as big, or as small as you want them to be." She got up and walked to a pile of miscellaneous stuff until she pulled out a block of, what looked to be clay, a large tub of white paint, with an array of brushes. He carried them and put them down in front of him.

"You should start of filling in the holes and cracks in the walls. you never know, it may help you in ways you don't think. Then after that you should re-paint the walls. Can't paint on a canvas that has multiple shades on it." She chuckled.

It was almost midnight when she allowed him to leave. She kept him there, talking, laughing, joking, and just cheering him up. Even with the heavy equipment that she gave him for free that he was carrying home, he felt lighter than ever.

It took him a week to fill in all of the holes in his room. And it took two weeks with the help of his brother, who wanted to join in since he was nosy, to repaint the walls. Everntually his brother asked if he was going to start attacking the walls again and Tatsuya laughed, scaring his brother slightly which made him laugh more.

"Nah, I was told to do something different." He smiled. His brother, who looked at him in confusion and apprehensiveness asked.

"And what would be...?" Tatsuya Smiled.

"Painting." And that was the end of the conversation. Tatsuya was quite understanding, usually, and doesn't force him to do anything. But seeing the contented smile on his brothers face made Tatsuya feel warm fuzzy. It was nice, making his brother smile contentedly like that.

Once his room was done, he went back to the store. The old lady was happy to hear the progress and he bought a bunch of coloured paints, and different paining brushes.

His smiles wasn't so forced anymore. He stayed and chatted to the lady, who was happy to have the company, until it got late enough for her to shoo him out of the store with a smile on her face.

It was about a week in after painting on his walls, where it started to go down. He had to say, he expected it, but not just yet. His brother, who loved to come in and but into what he's working on, never mentioned it, but defiantly saw the writings. Some times, When things got bad for Tatsuya, he would write his feeling out on the wall. It was a small painbrush that he wrote in, and it calmed him down, but it was there. Questions, statements, opinions, about everything. It took up a corner of one of the walls in his room, while the rest of the walls were colourful displays of anything that he started on. Characters in games, People, animals. Heck he drew his brother and the old lady.

While he was in the middle of painting a wolf, He had decided to do as a theme in one corner of Forest animals, when His brother knocked on the door.

"They were... Adamant on seeing you." He said, and then everyone rushed in. He was covered in paint, his dark corner was out for show, and felt almost... Vulnerable. Well, when you spend your time relaxing in your room to the point where it seems like no one else but you and your brother can come in, and so it becomes a safe space for you to let your guard down, He's obviously going to be shocked.

"Get out! This is my Room! Don't just Barge in here like you own the place!" He shouted, barely even hearing his own voice over the panic in his head. They leave, and after an hour, maybe more, in his dark corner, writing more than he had in one sitting, his brother comes in. 

"I'm sorry. They just, demanded to see you. They were worried about your health, since you were ignoring them. Or didn't return their calls and texts at least." He said, and Tatsuya sighed.

"It's... Fine. This room kind of became my safe space, as some would say. The only ones who can enter is you and me. when everyone else came in, I panicked." He sighed getting up. "I'm going out. I... need to talk to someone. She's the reason why I'm doing all of this." He said, and Katsuya smiled, patting his head.

"What whats good for you. And I'm sorry. I really am." Tatsuya smiled understanding.

"I know, and I forgive you." And with that he was out the door and heading to the Old Lady.

It was an hour of talking, tea and crying, until he calmed down. she called him brave for dealing with the situation, she called him strong for not relapsng, she called him Forgiving, for not blaming his brother. He couldn't help but cry again.

His friends haven't talked to him yet after that. It's been about a week since then, but he wasn't hurting. If the constant size of the dark corner was anything to go by, he hadn't added to it yet. But he was still on the road to getting over it.

He contemplated on repainting his room. To prepare for when his friends talked to him again. Perhaps he could invite the old lady for Tea?

**Author's Note:**

> Do mind the grammatical, punctual and spelling mistakes in this. It's 00:40 and this kind of... happened. 
> 
> I told you it was somewhat happy at the end. I was smiling by the end of it. Honestly, that old Lady is my fave character. I'm so happy I added her.


End file.
